Michelin strengthens partnership with MotoGP; becomes official tyre supplier till 2023

“Michelin renews its contract with MotoGP for 5 more years. This may not be a very good news for Bridgestone, which lost its status of official tyre supplier for MotoGP to Michelin in 2016.”

Michelin, the famed French Tyre giant, has strengthened its partnership with MotoGP by officially becoming the sole tyre supplier for the racing championship for 5 more years i.e. till 2023.

This is being hailed as a big achievement for Michelin since it replaced Bridgestone as the official tyre supplier for MotoGP in 2016. The agreement then was for only 3 years, but has been extended to 5 more years, sighting the technological advancements made by the company to its products.

Pascal Couasnon, Director, Michelin Motorsport, termed this extension of contract as a “no-brainer”, especially after the 2 very successful seasons of the racing since Michelin became the control tyre supplier for the event.

In a statement at the Australian Grand Prix, Mr. Pascal announced, “After two seasons that have seen tyre performance and strategy make a real contribution to the show delivered by motorcycle racing’s premier series, Dorna Sports has decided to extend its collaboration with Michelin as technical partner and exclusive tyre supplier to MotoGP for the next five years. We are naturally delighted to have earned the confidence of Carmelo Ezpeleta and his team.”

He added, “Michelin intends to use its continuing association with Dorna Sports to continue developing ever-safer and more competitive racing tyres, as well as innovations that will go on to benefit our road tyres.”

“Michelin is also delighted to continue working with the teams and riders who gave us such a warm welcome back after our absence from the championship and also to be able to build on the sense of pride felt by our staff following our successful return to MotoGP.”

The products used by Michelin for the races were carefully designed, keeping safety and high performance as the focal areas. The company used various iterations of tyres and tweaked them in correspondence to the requirements of specific racing tracks.

The result of this diligence became evident in the races as tyres started playing and ever-so-important role. Racing teams actively collaborated with Michelin in helping them create right set of rubber for the races. This involvement also allowed the companies to design better strategies in order to optimize the performances.

Many riders also hailed Michelin Tyres as the 'Harbinger of Renaissance' for their teams. Still others explicitly stated that as compared to Bridgestone, Michelin tyres required better understanding in terms of 'rubber longevity' and 'soft spots' to ace. This rendered a particular strategic edge to the seasoned riders who used the tyres' abilities to their strengths to gain wins.